DEVELOPERS have lodged new plans for Godalming’s Key Site with Waverley Borough Council.

Flambard Development’s blueprint includes provision for 182 homes, along with space for shops, offices and cafés and the potential for a new civic and leisure area.

The land, a 1.1-hectare site between Flambard Way, Catteshall Lane and Woolsack Way, would house 48 one-bedroom apartments, 115 two-bedroom flats and 19 three-bedroom properties, and create an extra 1,375sq-m of space for commercial use.

This is a decrease in the overall number of units from the development proposed last year, but includes more homes for families and fewer for single people and couples.

The application was initially submitted on November 17, but checks by council planning officers revealed a number of minor changes needed to be made. It was then officially accepted as a valid application on Wednesday this week.

“I would hope that the developers have listened to and taken into account the feedback they received at the public consultation,” said Giles Pattison, on behalf of the Catteshall Area Residents’ Association.

“It seems that they intend to persist with the plans for high density luxury flats, despite the apparent lack of need or demand in Godalming.”

Mr Pattison also questioned the need for new commercial units in the town centre.

“I think it is too soon to be building these kind of premises,” he added.

“Perhaps in a few years they will be very necessary, but in my opinion it is premature to be submitting an application with so much provision for commercial space.”

Flambard Developments’ initial proposal was for 225 flats, a new police station and shops, and also an eight-storey tower block on the land at Flambard Way and Catteshall Lane.

The scheme was rejected by Waverley Borough Council, while Godalming Town Council, English Heritage, the Campaign to Protect Rural England and the Godalming Trust all objected to the plans.

The company appealed and government planning inspector Andrew Freeman upheld its proposal after a two-week public inquiry last July, deciding that there would be no adverse impact on the town or neighbouring areas.

Mr Freeman also supported the developers’ claims that, because of the "abnormal costs" associated with building on the contaminated site, affordable housing would prove financially prohibitive, and held that the company would not have to contribute financially to leisure and education provision.

But Hazel Blears, then secretary of state for communities and local government, branded the scheme "utilitarian" and "lacking in imagination" and said the plans were unsuitable for Godalming by virtue of their design.

However, she left the door open for subsequent planning applications by saying that the scale of the proposed development, including the eight-storey tower block, was acceptable if the architecture was sufficiently sensitive to the area’s surroundings.

To view the latest application, visit the planning section of the borough council’s website at www.waverley.gov.uk .